The findings from the 2017 National Community Attitudes towards Violence against Women Survey (NCAS) have been released on 30 November. Overall, the survey found that Australians are less likely to hold attitudes that are supportive of violence against women now than in 2013 and 2009 and are more likely to support gender equality.

Fewer people reported believe that domestic violence could be excused if it resulted from men getting angry and losing control. There has also been a staggering 13 percentage point decrease in the proportion of people who believe men make better political leaders than women.

But the research shows that many Australians also believe some common myths. There has been a declining trend in the percentage of people recognising that men are more likely than women to use violence in relationships (down 22 percentage points since1995). One in three Australians are also unaware that a woman is more likely to be sexually assaulted by someone she knows than by a stranger.

Many Australians are still prepared to excuse and minimise this violence. Over forty per cent of people believe that it is common for sexual assault accusations to be used as a way of “getting back at men” and a third of people believe that women are partly responsible if their partner shares intimate photos without their permission. And in relation to gender equality, 40 per cent think many women exaggerate how unequally women are treated in Australia, half of people think many women mistakenly interpret innocent remarks or acts as being sexist and over a third of people think it’s natural for a man to want to appear in control of his partner in front of his male friends.